Photography is a form of art used to preserve or reflect in a specific way a natural phenomenon. Photography is the science, art, and discipline of making permanent visual images by taking light, either electrically from an electronic photo sensor, or by chemically coating a light-sensitive material like photographic paper. The word “photography” derives from the Greek word photos, which means “light”. The first cameras developed for this purpose were primitive cameras using a combination of eye and hand coordination to take photographs.
Photography has come a long way since then. Modern technology, in particular digital photography, has made it possible for virtually anyone to take professional quality photographs. Photography is now considered a serious art form. Some call today’s photography – digital, as well as digital-photo work – digital art. Others would call it an art form, but not necessarily so, because of the interplay between the media used to create the images, and the photographer’s ability to control the distribution of that media, to manipulate the audience, as well as to create and control the message the audience will see.
Photography is one of the few arts whose creation and development has not been driven by economic necessity. Although the popularity of photographic artwork and printing has declined steadily over the past century, the demand for photographic prints, on an artistic level, remains high. Photography is not a new art form. In fact, the history of photography is just as complex as the history of any other art. Photography can be described as an art form that has grown increasingly popular over time.